Department of Music

Biography

Dr. Leah Reid is a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music. Her primary research interests involve the perception, modeling, and compositional applications of timbre. In her works, timbre acts as a catalyst for exploring new soundscapes, time, space, perception, and color. 

In recent reviews, Reid’s works have been described as “immersive,” “haunting,” and “shimmering.” She has received numerous awards and honors, including the American Prize in Composition in the professional vocal chamber music division for her pieces Apple and Single Fish, first prizes in the 8th KLANG! International Electroacoustic Composition Competition for her piece Reverie, the Tesselat Electronic Music Competition for Sk(etch), The Franz Schubert Conservatory International Composer Competition for Apple, second prizes in the Iannis Xenakis International Electronic Music Competition and the 13th International Destellos Competition for  Reverie, the Film Score Award for Ring, Resonate, Resound in Frame Dance Productions’ Music Composition Competition, the International Alliance for Women in Music’s Pauline Oliveros Award for her piece Pressure, and Honorable Mentions in Classic Pure Vienna International Music Competition and WOCMAT’s 2018 NCTU International Phil Winsor Computer Music Competition. She has also received fellowships from the Guerilla Opera Company, the MacDowell Colony, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA), the Ucross Foundation, and the Hambidge Center. Her works are published with Ablaze Records, New Focus Recordings, Parma Recordings, RMN Classical, and BabelScores. 

Reid has worked with ensembles such as Accordant Commons, Blow Up Percussion, Concavo & Convesso, Ensemble Móbile, Guerilla Opera, the Jack Quartet, McGill’s Contemporary Music Ensemble, Neave Trio, Sound Gear, Talea, and Yarn/Wire. Her compositions have been presented at festivals, conferences, and in major venues throughout the world, including including Aveiro_Síntese (Portugal), BEAST FEaST (England), Espacios Sonoros (Argentina), EviMus (Germany), Forgotten Spaces: EuroMicrofest (Germany), the International Computer Music Conference (USA & Chile), IRCAM’s ManiFeste (France), LA Philharmonic's Noon to Midnight (USA), the Matera Intermedia Festival (Italy), the New York City Electronic Music Festival (USA), the OUA Electroacoustic Music Festival (Japan), the San Francisco Tape Music Festival (USA), Série de Música de Câmara (Brazil), the Society of Composers National Conference (USA), Soochow New Voice Concert Series (China), the Sound and Music Computing Conference (Germany), the Tilde New Music Festival (Australia), the Toronto International Electroacoustic Symposium (Canada), and the Workshop on Computer Music and Audio Technology (Taiwan), among many others. 

Reid received her D.M.A. and M.A. in music composition from Stanford University and her B.Mus from McGill University. Reid’s principal teachers include Mark Applebaum, Jonathan Berger, Brian Ferneyhough, Sean Ferguson, Ana Sokolovic, and Brian Paul Harman. She has taught at Stanford University (Stanford, CA), University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA), and at Cogswell Polytechnical College (San Jose, CA). She is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA), where she teaches courses in music composition and technology. Additional information may be found at www.leahreidmusic.com